Monday, March 29, 2010

Another entry in the "Doom That Rules" series. Except that most people will tell you that Iron Monkey was a "sludge" band, rather than a "doom" band. Being that I don't technically understand the difference, I will gladly heap them into the latter category -- after all, we're all brothers in the Kingdom of Metal.True to their name, Iron Monkey were big, heavy, loud, and slow -- similar in style and composition to other IC favorites like Grief or Noothgrush. But Iron Monkey had an ace in the hole, in the form of their singer Johnny Morrow (right). Johnny's vocal delivery was a shrieking maelstrom of hatred and angst, an onslaught of malice bringing to mind the tortured howls of Flesh Parade or maybe that one Bethlehem song. Unfortunately, Morrow died of heart failure in 2002, three years after the band had broken up. Fucking bummer.One of the guys in this band went on to play in Electric Wizard or something. I assume the rest of them just oozed back into the gutters of Nottingham, their declaration of war published, their legacy firmly established in the annals of Doom History. Or Sludge History. Or whatever.

Download HEREPurchase (packaged as a 2-disc set including their self-titled debut album) HERE

Did I mention that the CD insert folds out into one of the most epic pieces of art ever created? Check it out (clicking for higher res is recommended):

4 comments:

Excellent upload. That art is by Mike Diana, of the notorious comix zine Boiled Angel - the first cartoonist in America to be jailed for his work and forbidden from drawing even for himself. This would be lovely as a gatefold vinyl.